?A FOOTBALL shirt worn by Oasis star Noel Gallagher and a tambourine used by brother Liam on the What’s The Story Morning Glory global smash are being auctioned by the man who recorded them at Rwentockfield Studios.
Nick Brine from Monmouth, who started out as a trainee at the studios at 16 and went on to engineer numerous chart topping albums and singles, saved the tambourine from the skip after the band recorded their No 1 hit there in 1995.The personalised football shirt was one of two specially made for the legendary indie rock band when they sponsored a pub football team back in the 90s.It was given to Nick, along with one for Oasis bandmate Paul ‘bonehead’ Arthurs, after he engineered their third album Be Here Now at the legendary Abbey Road studios in London.The shirts were worn by the stars during a charity football match when they made a guest appearance for Bolt Makers Arms FC in 1996.Despite the brothers being massive Manchester City supporters, the shirt is a deep magenta red and emblazoned with “Oasis” and “N.Gallagher 7” on the back.The Noel Gallagher shirt is expected to fetch between £1,000 to £1,500 when it goes under the hammer this week, while the tambourine could make up to £500.Nick, 44, who now lives in Alicante in Spain, is also parting with the Bonehead shirt which has an estimate of £800-£1,000.The band, who prepped songs for debut album Definitely Maybe at Monnow Valley studios in 1994, moved across the road to record What’s The Story Morning Glory at Rockfield, during which they wowed fans in Monmouth by playing a friendly football match on Chippenham with a team put together by violinist Nigel Kennedy, who was also recording there. Nick, who appeared on the recent Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm documentary, said: ““The tambourine was used during the recording of ‘What’s The Story Morning Glory’.“It was pretty battered by the end of the session and was going to be thrown away. But I claimed it.“It’s been used on many recordings since by bands such as Teenage Fanclub, The Darkness, Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Seasick Steve, Steve Harley, Supergrass and The Verve.”The football shirts also came into Nick’s possession at the Abbey Road recording session in 1997.He added: “Back in 1996 Oasis decided to sponsor one of their local pub teams.“Adidas made a bespoke kit for the team and one-off shirts for the band members, each with their names on the back.“Bonehead (Paul Arthurs) and Noel kindly gave me their shirts at London’s Abbey Road Studios during the recording of their album Be Here Now.“I was the engineer on the session.”Nick is also selling a section of a Danelectro sitar, estimate £150-£200, which was smashed up on stage by The Darkness lead singer.“It belonged to Justin Hawkins and was used on several of his recordings,” he said.“He smashed it up on stage. The top half ending up in the crowd, I believe at Reading Festival.“I reclaimed the bottom half. It still works!”Nick started his career at Rockfield in 1993 at the age of 16, and during a 12-month period in 1996-97, helped record sessions resulting in five UK No 1 albums by Oasis, Black Grape, The Charlatans and the Boo Radleys.Other famous stars to record there include Manic Street Preachers, Robert Plant, and Coldplay, who laid down their first album Parachutes there.It’s best known for the recording of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody in 1973, and still boasts the piano where Freddie Mercury first played the song to his bandmates.The pieces of iconic rock memorabilia were due to go under the hammer yesterday by Hansons Auctioneers as the Beacon went to print.Josh McCarthy, music memorabilia valuer at Hansons, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to bring these rock treasures to auction.“They are iconic objects from iconic musicians who remind us that Britain is a melting pot of immense talent.“Thanks to Nick, the provenance is second to none and I am expecting worldwide interest in these lots.“They deserve to do well. It’s an opportunity to own a slice of British rock history.”Noel returned to Rockfield last year to record a 25th anniversary interview about the making of their iconic second album.He recalled how the album was more Wonderbrawl than Wonderwall, as a massive bust-up with his brother nearly split the band before they finished the album, which included such banging tunes as Roll With It, Wonderwall, Don’t Look in Anger and Champagne Supernova.While brother and singer Liam and their band-mates were living the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle in Monmouth’s pubs, such as legendary rockers’ watering hole The Nags Head, Noel and the producers were hard at work late into the night.As they tried to master Champagne Supernova one Friday, Noel said: “Liam had brought a load of ******* idiots back from the local village, and I’m like, ‘I’m here to ******* made a record, which I haven’t actually written yet. So if you want to do that kind of ******* shit, do it somewhere else – don’t do it here.’”All hell broke loose as Liam and the rest of the band took exception, with the ruckus that exploded since described as “a scene from a Western”.